Carl gruene



Patented Nov. I, I898. C. GRUENE. PROCESS OF EXTRAOTING FATTY MATTER FROM WOOL.

(Application filed Dec. 3, 1897.)

(N0 Model.)

% Q 0 sobv M W UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

CARL GRUENE, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF EXTRACTING FATTY MATTER FROM WOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,267, dated November 1, 1898.

Application filed December 3, 1897.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL GRUENE, a subject of theEmperor of Germany, and a resident of Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Extracting Fatty Matter from W001, 850., of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in a method or process of extracting and recovering the natural grease and fatty matters and analogous materials from wool, feathers, and other fibers.

The following description of the method now employed by me in extracting the natural grease from Wool will enable those skilled in the art to apply my invention not only to the cleansing of wool, but to the cleansing of other fibers.

Prior to my invention the practice has been to remove the natural grease from wool by the use of chemical agents. In some instances the chemical agent employed has been an alkali. In other instances the chemical agent employed has been a-solvenP-such, for example, as naphtha, benzin, or benzol.

It is well known, however, that the use of such chemical agents injures the fiber to a greater or less extent and that those methods which involve the use of a volatile agent are dangerous to practice. In my method no chemical agents whatever are or need be employed, and the natural strength and complete integrity of the fiber is or may be therefore preserved. I

In the practice of my invention I subject wool under the influence of heat to the action of a mechanical absorbent. This may be done by placing the wool to be treated in a suitable apparatus, in which is also placed the absorbing material, and in which the two are thoroughly agitated or mixed together while being subjected to heat externally applied. The absorbent material which I now prefer to employ is di mnmemls/earths or kiesel uhr in a finel -divided or pulverulent 0011mm the treatment is not only to remove the natural grease which the wool carries, but also to clean and scour it. The absorbent material is separated from the cleaned wool subsequently by dusting or in any other desired manner.

It is impossible to state with accuracy the Serial No. 660,618. (No specimens.)

exact, proportion of absorbent required to be intermingled with the oil-bearing material or the precise temperature to be employed, since the quantity of treating material and the temperature at which treatment is effected are both dependent to a greater or less extent upon the character of the material under treatment and the amount or character of the oil or analogous material carried therewith. In general terms, however, I may say that at the present time I generally employ in the treatment of wool of the average character about one ton of absorbent to six tons of wool; but these proportions may be varied greatly. Since wool is injuriously affected by a temperature much exceeding 120 Fah renheit, I have in practice avoided the. use of a higher temperature than that, which I have found to be efficient for the purpose. Generally it may be stated that the. proportion of the absorbent should preferably be controlled by the amount of oil or equivalent matter to be removed and that the temperature should be regulated below the limit where injury will result to the fiber by the character of the oil or equivalent matter to be removed.

After the absorbent material containing the removed grease is separated from the Wool the grease may be reclaimed by any of the known processessuch, for example, as hydraulic pressure, distillation, or a treatment with naphtha, gasolene, or other suitable solvents. The grease thus obtained may be filtered, bleached, and clarified to produce a pure quality of wool-fat, which is useful in the arts.

My invention is applicablenot only to the extraction of natural grease and fatty matters from animal fibers, but it may be advantageously applied to the extraction from other fibers of other matters rendered fluid or more fluid by heat-as, for example, the extraction of resinous matters from vegetable fibers.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown an apparatus in which my invent-ion may be carried out, in which Figure l is a vertical section through the machine. Fig.2 is a top View of the working parts, and Fig. 3 is a detail of the picker; but it will be understood that my invention is not limited to the use of sucha machine, or, indeed, any machine, as it may be practiced by any suitable contrivance. The description of the machine is introduced here only for the purpose of showing one apparatus by the agency of which my invention can be practiced economically on a large scale.

The following is a description of the machine illustrated in the accompanying draw- 1ngs:

5 is a box of any suitable material inclosin g the working parts.

6 is wool being fed into the machine over a table 7.

8 is a stationary comb, and 9 is a movable comb, acting together as a picker to separate the wool. The motion of the comb 9 is controlled by a pulley 10, having an eccentrically-placed stud 11, operating in a slot 12 on the comb-carrier13, which comb-carrier is supported on a pin 14, operating in a slot 15.

16 is a spring bearing on the upper side of the comb-carrier.

It will be readily understood that the pulley moves the comb 9 backward, then up ward, then forward, then downward into engagement with the fiber, and operates as an ordinary picker.

17 is a motor or other suitable source of power by which the various parts are actuated through connecting-belts.

18 19 are endless belt-s moving over idlers, as shown, by means of which the wool is agitated and mixed with the earth.

20 is earth contained in the bottom of the box, supplied from a tank 21, having a valve 23 is an elevator of well-known form, the buckets of which carry the earth upward and agency of an eccentrically-placed pin 31 on pulley 32, which reciprocating motion aids in the complete admixture of the earth with the wool.

Having thus described my invention and the manner in which I prefer to practice it in the treatment of wool, as an example, what I claim is 1. The method of extracting natural grease and analogous materials from wool, feathers and other fibers which consists in subjecting said fibers while in a heated condition to the action of a mechanical absorbent.

2. The method of extracting the natural grease and analogous materials from wool, feathers and other fibers consisting in subjecting said materials in a heated condition to the action of diatomaceous earth.

3. The method of manufacturing wool-fat or analogous fats which consists in subjecting wool, feathers or analogous materials in a heated condition to the action of an absorbent material, then separating the absorbent from the same and finally extracting the fat from the absorbent, substantially as described.

CARL GRUENE.

Witnesses:

GERHARD FRERICHS, THEonoR SCHRAMME. 

